This private residence sits on the brow of the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, overlooking the historic village of Creemore. Located on a high grassland edged with mature woodlands, the residence consists of four linked pavilions, their simple geometric forms inspired by the local vernacular of barns and outbuildings and fortified by envelopes of shou sugi ban siding. The plan is also inspired by local traditions of farmhouse architecture, in which paths or breezeways link the main house, ‘summer kitchen’ and ancillary buildings. In this interpretation, the individual pavilions are arranged axially with glazed connections, oriented to face the edge of the escarpment and create a direct relationship between interior rooms and the surrounding landscape. A palette of wood, stone and steel reinforces this relationship and references again the durable and straightforward local farm buildings that do the landscape.